http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/mpview/ Kidderminster Shuttle /news/mpview/ en-gb Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:31:17 +0100 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:31:17 +0100 http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/mpview/rssterms/ M6 nvincent@newsquest.co.uk (Nigel Vincent) webmaster@digitalmedia.newsquest.co.uk (Tim Joy) http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/resources/images/528264/?type=rsslogo http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/mpview/ http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/mpview/4467833.MP_S_VIEWPOINT___July_2__2009/?ref=rss ONE of the difficulties of being a single independent MP is that one cannot be in two places at once so I have had to make difficult choices if two vital events occurred at the same time. Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:27:28 +0100 b2f96e95f3c117221b7aa7efec22cf64 http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/mpview/4453973.MP_S_VIEWPOINT___June_25__2009/?ref=rss THANK goodness the weather held for Kidderminster Carnival last Saturday and huge crowds lined the route and flocked to the field for a full programme and many stalls. Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:13:08 +0100 cae7ff69baceeb9de5ffa9a20f384f30 http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/mpview/4442733.MPs_VIEWPOINT___June_18/?ref=rss It is with great sadness that I mark the death and funeral today of Jill Fairbrother-Millis, county and district councillor. Jill was a real servant of the people and she did not let her illness stop her from doing her duty. She continued to make herself go to meetings and events until close to her death. She was a model for all of us of typical British guts and determination – carry on regardless – in spite of every difficulty thrown at her. We will all miss her and she will be long remembered with admiration and affection for her dedication and commitment to the people of Stourport and Wyre Forest. Thu, 18 Jun 2009 09:00:00 +0100 168359b8e7b68a83b014b808384a04df http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/mpview/4429159.MP_S_VIEWPOINT___June_11__2009/?ref=rss MANY will remember how sad we were to see the abolition of Community Health Councils (CHCs) some years ago and then the abolition also of their successors the Patient and Public Involvement Forums just as ours in particular was becoming effective. Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:28:08 +0100 86090cbafb2cd8c3914e5e27b74c575c http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/mpview/4416124.MP_S_VIEWPOINT___June_4__2009/?ref=rss BY the time you read this, voting will be well under way for local and European elections. It will be a day or two before we see the full effect of the results on Gordon Brown and the Government but with the Home Secretary’s announcement of her resignation that was expected but was still surprising because of its timing, we can be sure of a reshuffle of the cabinet very soon. Wed, 03 Jun 2009 09:19:06 +0100 5890932856ee6073f5c190fa94c8a247 http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/mpview/4398700.MP_S_VIEWPOINT___May_28__2009/?ref=rss IT has been another very exciting week, starting with my shock discovery that there were short odds on my becoming the next Speaker, followed by further revelations about MPs’ expenses and then the gradual realisation that the expenses crisis may lead to real efforts to improve the ability of the House of Commons to hold the Government of the day more effectively to account. Wed, 27 May 2009 10:29:55 +0100 2a79158c50dcc1a540066ff2fe693f01 http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/mpview/4364819.Viewpoint_with_Dr_Richard_Taylor_MP/?ref=rss USERS of Kidderminster Network Rail Station will know that the footbridge apparently completed over six months ago is still not open. The delay has been caused by the wrong glass in the windows on the Worcester side of the bridge that allowed train drivers from Worcester to be dazzled so they could not easily see a signal and by flooring that was too slippery. I was told the bridge would be open by the end of April. As this has not happened I wrote to Network Rail who assured me that final work was to be done on May 11. Then the bridge would have to be signed over to London Midland and, subject to agreement, be open this week. I wonder! Wed, 13 May 2009 11:34:00 +0100 b7601c15e4fbe3c3d203fab9f9d63b5c http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/mpview/4346629.Viewpoint_with_Dr_Richard_Taylor_MP/?ref=rss LAST week there was a well-deserved defeat for the Government over the decision about residence rights for Gurkhas who have served in our armed forces. Also last Thursday the House descended into farce. The Government climbed down over the Prime Minister’s proposal for the allowance for MPs to pay for their London accommodation to be based on their attendance at Westminster as the unsatisfactory nature of this arrangement in the European Parliament had been belatedly realised. So Ministers accepted a cross-party amendment that would appropriately, in my view, leave the question about all MPs’ expenses to the independent review that Mr Brown himself has ordered under Sir Christopher Kelly. Then inexplicably we proceeded to vote separately on each of these allowances that we had just agreed to leave to the independent review! How this was allowed within parliamentary procedure I am at a loss to know. Thu, 07 May 2009 15:00:00 +0100 a9df0d93be5ede97a882ad661bad6cde http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/mpview/4328241.Viewpoint_with_Dr_Richard_Taylor_MP/?ref=rss FOR those disappointed not to have read anything from me about the Budget before now I can assure them I have had much to do during the last week as readers will gather below. Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:00:00 +0100 21e8460449c1ba9a33133df006264447 http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/mpview/4309957.MP_s_VIEWPOINT___April_23/?ref=rss MPs’ expenses have emerged again at the top of the Government’s agenda amazingly on the day before the most important budget for decades. Surely the PM should have waited for the already arranged independent review of MPs’ expenses by Sir Christopher Kelly than pre-empting this by a radical change to the accommodation allowance, said to be interim only. If anything has to be done immediately the obvious abuses could be stamped out easily and without objection as follows: Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:30:00 +0100 7addeae2fb8fe19f70c7899a6d4ec9a2